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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-10-31 Daily Xml
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Question Time

Defence Naval Shipbuilding

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Leader of the Opposition) (14:06): My question is to the Premier. Will 9 Hunter class frigates be built at Osborne? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: On 28 October The Advertiser reported that the federal government is currently conducting a surface review of Australia's naval fleet, which will determine the exact scope of the program and whether it will remain at nine ships or be cut back to six or even three.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:07): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. It is a question that relates to an incredibly important subject both to our national security as a country but also our shipbuilding capacity here in South Australia, an industry which is exceptionally important, particularly given the government's stated objective to increase the level of economic complexity that we have here in South Australia.

As the Leader of the Opposition is well aware, and I have certainly made it clear in this place, the commonwealth committed to the Defence Strategic Review. One of the recommendations that the commonwealth accepted on the back of that Defence Strategic Review was to have a 90-day review into the surface ship fleet that our Navy has, including its plans into the future.

That exercise, as the Leader of the Opposition would be aware, is something that the state government has been, I think, more proactive than any other jurisdiction in the commonwealth in making sure that we have our views known by the federal government. We did that both informally and formally in writing.

The commonwealth is undertaking its review. We now know from some public remarks, I think both through The Advertiser but also other media forms, that the commonwealth anticipates that it will announce its response to that review during the course of the summer. I am on the record and am more than happy to repeat here in the parliament that we would like the commonwealth to accelerate, expedite, its response to that 90-day review. But what is clear, I think, to everybody—including the federal government themselves, who are in receipt of the DSR report—is that one thing cannot be compromised in any way, shape or form, and that is the ongoing long-term commitment to surface shipbuild here in the state of South Australia.

That industry requires certainty; that industry requires long-term planning. Any discontinuance in any form, including uncertainty, that would result in a going back to the consequences of the valley of death in the past, is unacceptable. We need continuity; we need certainty.

In the state government's view, that would best be realised by a substantial commitment to the ongoing Hunter class program that has now well and truly progressed. I suspect many people in this place—both in the opposition and, I know, certainly in the government—have had the opportunity to visit the Osborne facility and BAE's work to see how far progressed they are in their respective blocks in not just the pilot program but actually the first ship. It's exceptionally exciting to see, and we know the prospect of a dramatic ramp-up in BAE's workforce over the course of the next 2½ years. That is something that the state government is actively working both with BAE and the federal government on.

Our position is clear: we want to see Hunter delivered. In terms of the number of ships, what matters most is the commonwealth honouring its commitment which it has made on the back of the recommendation for the DSR of continuous surface shipbuild happening here at Osborne. Our preference in the first instance is to make sure that is represented through the Hunter class program.

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